


Stepboyfriends

by ForensicBec, tinypeckers



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-25 17:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13839372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForensicBec/pseuds/ForensicBec, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinypeckers/pseuds/tinypeckers
Summary: Parties are for booze, awkward dancing and intimacy with people you’ll forget about in the morning. Aleks thought he’d finally done the latter but it’s hard to forget the person you kissed last night when they waltz into your house and introduce themselves as your new brother.





	1. Deja Vu

Aleks’ head slammed against the wall. He groaned. It came from the back of his throat and it was low, guttural and long. It was drowned out by the headache inducing music. Thump, thump thump. The same beat over and over again occasionally masked by other instruments. His breath blew his fringe up from the tip of his nose. A can of pepsi was forced into his limp fingers.

“Dude, stop with this emo act you look like a fuckin’ weirdo.”

“I’m sticking it to the man, Eddie.”

“Your dad isn’t here. You just have a stick up your ass.”

Eddie knocked Aleks’ shoulder with his knee. Aleks slipped and fell from his position. The dark hoodie he’d pulled on that evening was just long enough to protect the palm of his hand from scratching against the floor. His face grazed against the rough carpet though and Aleks’ nose wrinkled as he got a deep whiff of puke. Aleks retched.

“Seriously, lighten up dude. It’s a party.”

“Fuck you, you’ve been making out with Seamus all night.”

“I mean you could’ve joined if you wanted.”

Eddie’s eyebrows waggled up and down in a little dance. Aleks’ lip curled up in disgust.

“Fuck off.”

“There’s plenty of people here, just pick one and make out with them.”

 

Aleks stared at the crowd before him. In one corner stood the jocks. Even at a party on a Saturday evening they were still wearing their lettermen jackets. Aleks only hoped that one of them would spill their drinks down themselves and ruin the precious fabric. Then there were the preppy kids who seemed to be all over this party. The host himself was at the centre of the room in his new Ralph Lauren polo with the collar turn up. Aleks rolled his eyes. Occasionally Aleks spied a fellow emo kid. Their dark hair stood out against the sea of colour. Aleks sneered at them too. They just weren’t on his level and never would be.

“I’m good thanks.”

“You’re too emo right now, have you seen Seamus?”

Aleks swatted at his best friend’s shin. Eddie grinned and kicked Aleks back. Eddie’s head whipped around as someone called his name. With one half-assed wave, Eddie had disappeared into the party. Once again Aleks was alone – just how he liked it. If he closed his eyes he could almost drown out the train wreck around him.

Almost.

 

Someone kicked Aleks’ hip with the toe of their shoe. Aleks grunted.

“What’s up buttercup?”

Aleks opened his eyes and looked up. A boy loomed over him. He was moderately attractive with big, brown eyes and a day’s worth of stubble lingering on his jaw. His hair hung around his shoulders in tight, dark brown ringlets. He smiled down at Aleks. Aleks scrambled to sit up.

“I, uh…”

“Are you drunk already? Isn’t it like nine o’clock?”

“I don’t drink.”

Aleks held up his fresh can of pepsi. He popped the tab and took a quick sip. It didn’t seem to quench his undying thirst.

“Well, that makes one of us.”

The boy sat down beside him. His shoulder bumped with Aleks’ when he took a sip of his beer. Aleks rolled his eyes. He shifted away from the stranger.

 

“Are you sad because you’re not drinking? Must suck being the sober one.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty boring.”

“Well, I know one way to spice it up.”

The boy leaned into Aleks’ space. He licked his lips. Aleks looked down at them. They looked a little chapped. Aleks’ gaze flicked up to the boy’s eyes. They were closed and his eyelashes kissed the apples of his cheeks. Aleks shrugged and then he kissed him. He tasted of beer, off-brand Cheetos and bad choices. When Aleks pulled away, the boy’s mouth hung open slightly. Aleks grimaced when he wiped some saliva from his chin. The stranger cracked one eye open and grinned.

“I mean, I was just gonna suggest we play Uno. They have it over there.”

The boy pointed to a half-played game of Uno strewn across a nearby coffee table. Aleks hid his face in his hands.

 

He felt the other boy tug on them. Aleks didn’t really try to keep them in place.

“But this is good too.”

Aleks looked up at the other guy. The boy grinned back at him and leaned into Aleks’ space. Their lips touched for the second time and Aleks felt himself melt against the stranger.

 

_Bang, bang, bang._

“Aleks, gosh darnit I told you we had to be up early this morning.”

Aleks groaned from underneath his blanket burrito. Still, his Dad kept knocking against his door.

“I’m serious Aleks, if you don’t get up I’ll cancel your club penguin subscription.”

“I don’t even play anymore!”

“Oh really? Then why is it still billing my credit card?”

Aleks rolled over in his bed. He sighed and glared at the door.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

 

Aleks threw his duvet off of the bed. His socked feet soon followed with a muffled thud. He shuffled over to his dresser and opened it wide.

“Now, what to wear today?”

Aleks’ fingers picked through his t-shirts. He pushed aside any shirt with a graphic on. Today was not the day for light-heartedness. He hesitated between two t-shirts. One was almost midnight black while the other could best be described as dark grey. Aleks snatched the midnight black one from its hanger. There was no hesitation when it came to the pants. Aleks had demanded that his father bought him the same black pair of jeans for every day of the week and so his wardrobe never lacked a clean pair. It was the same story when it came to his underwear. Black socks and black briefs. Before he headed to the bathroom, Aleks made sure to snatch the last accessory from his bedside table.

 

Jordan hummed to himself as he cracked an egg against the side of the frying pan. The morning light bathed his right side and warmed him up a little. He frowned to himself when the yolk of the egg broke in the pan. That just wouldn’t do. The pan wobbled to and fro when he carried it over to the bin. Jordan scraped the egg off of the pan with the spatula. He carried it back to the stove and poured more oil into the pan. He turned to get another egg and almost dropped it onto the floor.

“Really? You look like a flippin’ raccoon.”

Aleks glared at his father. He rubbed underneath his eye and only served to smudge the eyeliner more. Jordan took a deep breath. He cracked the egg against the side of the pan.

“Will you please take it off? You know it’s an important day for us,” Jordan said. He sighed when Aleks didn’t respond. “I know what you’re doing. You better stop it.”

Aleks lowered his middle finger. He dragged a chair out from underneath the table and it shrieked in the calm of the morning. Jordan shot his son a look over his shoulder. The shrieking stopped. Aleks slumped on the chair. He only looked up when Jordan placed a plate of eggs and toast underneath his nose. He scowled down at the plate. Jordan had used his eggs as eyes and arranged the toast to form a mouth.

 

The doorbell rang.

Jordan and Aleks looked out into the hallway. Jordan chewed upon his lip. He hadn’t ordered anything recently.  He looked back at his son and raised an eyebrow. Aleks shrugged and toyed with his fork. When Jordan’s gaze persisted, Aleks rolled his eyes and shook his head. Jordan dropped the frying pan into the sink and headed out into the hallway. He slowly stepped toward the door. The doorbell rang again. Jordan squinted through the tiny glass pane. He laughed to himself and walked towards the door with more certainty before he grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

“Dan! You have your own key, why did you bother ringing the doorbell?”

“I didn’t want to be rude!”

Jordan pulled his boyfriend in by the collar of his shirt. He planted a wet kiss upon his lips that lingered there for more than a few seconds.

“Ew, gross.”

“James, stop being immature.”

Jordan pulled away from his boyfriend and smiled sheepishly down at the boy he’d brought in with him. He beamed up at Jordan with big, brown eyes. His jaw was clean and smooth except for a few cuts and some hair that the razor had missed. His hair was longer than Jordan had expected. He offered his hand.

“Nice to meet you James, I’m Jordan.”

“I know, you’re dating my Dad.”

Still James took Jordan’s hand with a surprisingly strong grip and shook it. Jordan pulled his hand back. He opened and closed his suddenly stiff fingers.

 

Jordan welcomed them inside. He noticed that James and Dan had packed quite light with just a backpack between them. Before he could make a remark, he looked up and saw the van Dan must have driven to the house. It was parked next to a car Jordan had become quite familiar with. Jordan closed the door and clapped his hands together.

“So, Aleks is in the kitchen. I will warn you he’s in a bit of a mood today,” Jordan paused for a second. “Well, he’s in a mood every day but today he’s worse than normal. Think raccoon.” Jordan gestured towards his eyes. Dan’s face contorted a little. James snorted.

“He sounds interesting.”

 

Aleks had just finished turning his smiley face breakfast into an unhappy face when Jordan and the others walked in. Aleks did not look up until his father cleared his throat and said:

“Aleks, say hi to Dan and please be nice to your brother James.”

Aleks’ fork clattered against the table. His mouth dropped open.

“Fuck.”


	2. Good ol' family values

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks can't cope with the new family dynamic

“Aleksandr, language!”

Dan clapped his hands over James’ ears. He was a little surprised when Jordan covered his ears too. James cackled and doubled over. He clutched his stomach. He laughed so hard that he started to lose his breath. His hair shook back and forth against his shoulders.

“This can’t be happening, why does it have to happen to me?”

“Stop being dramatic Aleks and greet James properly.”

Jordan frowned when James laughed even harder. He almost fell to the floor.

“What has gotten into you James? It’s not very nice to laugh at people you’ve just met.”

James straightened up. He offered Aleks a shaky hand. Little squeaks of laughter escaped his tightly pressed lips. Aleks shook his head and turned away from James. He got up out of his chair. Their shoulders brushed as Aleks pushed past him. He stalked into the hallway.

“Aleks, get back here you have to help them unpack.”

The resounding thump of Aleks’ door slamming shut was the only answer Jordan received.

 

Eight boxes, three stubbed toes and a couple of father-son arguments later Jordan flopped down onto the couch. His legs spread across all three of the cushions. He propped his head up against the armrest. He looked at Dan and pat his chest. Dan laid down on top of him. His cheek squished against Jordan’s t-shirt. His hair tickled Jordan’s nose. Jordan’s fingers threaded through it and brushed it down. He kissed the top of his boyfriend’s head and smiled. James slumped in the armchair and pulled a face at the two men. He looked across the room at Aleks who leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He watched Jordan and Dan with his upper lip curled. He noticed James was staring at him and turned to look at the other boy. James pat the space beside him. He grinned at Aleks. Aleks huffed and turned away.

 

“So boys, what shall we do now?”

Jordan tried to clap his hands together. His hand slapped Dan in the face instead. Jordan gasped. He furiously rubbed the spot he’d hit. When Dan pushed him aside, Jordan peppered his face in kisses instead. James cleared his throat.

“How about we have a family game night?”

Aleks’ whole body went stiff against the wall. He cringed when Jordan squealed.

“That’s a great idea James! What do you want to play?”

“Oh, I don’t know… Uno?”

James locked eyes with Aleks.

 

Aleks slowly peeled himself from the wall, shook his head ‘no’ and walked out. He stomped up the stairs to try and drown out James’ laughter. He could hear his father call out his name but Aleks did not stop until he was safely in his room. He slammed the door for good measure. _How the fuck could this happen to him?_ He thought. The one time he made out with someone at a party and they had to show up at his house the next day as his new brother? Aleks kicked the leg of his bed. He cursed and fell onto it. His fingers massaged his throbbing toe. When the feeling started to fade, Aleks turned onto his side and curled into a little ball.

“Why?”

 

Somebody knocked on his door. Aleks glared at the wood. He hoped that they could feel his anger. The intruder knocked again.

“I know you’re in there.”

“Fuck off, James.”

“If you don’t come out, I’m coming in. We’ve got to talk about this shit.”

Aleks shot up. He rushed over to his door. He opened it barely a crack and slipped through. James had to step back to avoid Aleks stepping on his toe. Aleks glared at him.

“We’re not talking about this. It did not happen. I was drunk.”

“But you don’t drink.”

“I. was. Drunk.”

Aleks accentuated each word with a jab of his finger against James’ chest.

“So we’re not going to talk about this?”

“Talk about what? Nothing happened, fuck off.”

 

Aleks turned around and slammed the door in James face. James raised his fist. He knocked again.

“Fuck off!”

“But Aleksandr let’s talk about this.”

“It’s Aleks you asshole. Fuck. Off.”

“But we’re brothers, Aleks – we need to get closer.”

“We’re close enough. Go away.”

James’ fist raised high to knock again but he hesitated. He pressed his ear against the door to listen for any signs that Aleks would come back out. The boy on the other side was silent. James peeled away from the door and headed down the stairs. He almost fell down them when he bumped into his father halfway up.

 “Oh, where’s Aleks?”

“In his room, we sorted it.”

“You did?”

Dan let his son pass him. He frowned a little and looked up at the landing.

“He’ll come down for dinner.”

Dan shrugged it off and followed his son down the stairs. James headed straight for the living room where he found Jordan hunched over on the couch. He had been chewing upon his nails.

“So, how about that game of Uno?” James asked.

\--

 

Jordan licked his lips as he flipped the burger. It was almost perfectly cooked, complete with little char lines from the barbeque. He gave it another minute before he slid the patty onto a bed of salad that Dan had prepped for him earlier. Jordan smiled down at the line of plates. He had cooked the other three burgers and had drawn smiley faces onto each of them in ketchup. But this burger was for Aleks and Jordan knew exactly what to do.

 

The corners of Aleks’ mouth lifted slightly before he clapped his hand over it. Jordan had doodled a frown on his burger with two blobs of ketchup at the top and wobbly downward curve at the bottom.

“Oh hey, it’s a spitting image!”

Aleks shoved James aside. He wrapped his arm around his plate and schooled his lips into a straight, thin line. He used his shoulder to block James from looking at his plate. He slipped his phone from his pocket and peeked it over the table’s edge. The camera clicked. Aleks shoved his phone back under the table.

“Did you just take a picture of it?”

“Fuck off, James.”

 

Jordan clicked his tongue. He placed his hands upon his hips and looked down at Aleks.

“Aleksandr, I know this is an adjustment but I will not deal with you being outright rude.”

“It’s okay Jordan, we’ve all got to get used to this. I forgive Aleks for being so off with me,” James smiled. “These burgers are great by the way.”

Aleks rolled his eyes at James while Jordan pat James’ back. He took his seat besides Dan. They were crammed onto the bench Jordan had built himself several years ago when Aleks was small and their family was even smaller. Aleks huffed. He placed his bun on top of his burger and took a bite.

“Yeah, dad. They’re good.”

 

Jordan raised an eyebrow at his son. He looked between Aleks and James. James was a burst of colour against his own son and he was only wearing light grey and a blue t-shirt. Jordan respected Aleks’ right to wear whatever he wanted but sometimes he wondered if buying his son that eyeliner was a step too far. Maybe he should link Aleks some more youtube tutorials, Jordan thought. Aleks had clearly ignored the last set Jordan had sent him.

“You’re going to have to act a little nicer, Aleks. Tomorrow is James’ first day of school here and he’s going to need you to help him out.”

“You’re going to help me Aleks? That’d be great, really. I’d like that.”

 

James grabbed Aleks’ hand. Aleks yanked it away as though he’d been burnt. He rubbed the spot where James’ hand had been.

“Oh yeah, that’s right you’ll be seniors together. If you’re lucky you’ll share some classes.”

Aleks’ burger fell from his bun. It made a wet slap against his plate.

“Are you all right there Aleks?”

Dan mopped at some ketchup that had squirted onto the table in the fall. Aleks nodded. He muttered his thanks to Dan as he scooped the patty back into his bun. He licked the ketchup from his hand. James stared intently at him as he sucked the sauce from his fingers.

 

“Look at us, having a nice family meal,” Jordan smiled at the group. His elbows knocked against Dan’s as they tried to eat their burgers. “It looks like I’m going to have to build a new table though.” Jordan nudged Dan playfully to prove his point.

“It’s all right Jordan, these two will leave for college soon and we can have this table all to ourselves.”

Jordan’s face fell at the mere mention of college. He looked across the table at the two teenagers. Aleks had turned his whole body away from James. The eyeliner had smudged down onto his cheeks. While James chewed, a piece of lettuce bounced upon his chin. He was sticking his jaw out further than he needed to.

“You won’t be getting rid of me that easy, Dad. You’re guaranteed at least one more year of my wonderful, exquisite company,” James spoke with a lisp so that he spat with every word.

Dan rolled his eyes at his son. It was going to be a long year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell us if you're enjoying reading this as much as we're enjoying writing it.
> 
> We'll be updating weekly from now on (Thursdays the unofficial date unless I get too excited and update more often) and I'll confirm the chapter count soon.


	3. It's early days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's James' first day at school and well, as you can guess, Aleks is not thrilled about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, promising to update this every Thursday: YEAH GUYS SO EXCITED GOT A SCHEDULE DATE WOOO  
> Me, the following week at 11:59pm on Thursday and subsequently every day until now: oh fuck
> 
> So sorry for the delay guys, life got in the way (job applications, interviews, house hunting, crying...) but to make it up to y'all you get not one but two chapters.
> 
> Also, seriously. Thursday - from now on, Thursday.

Monday morning hit Aleks in the face like a brick. A brick with big brown eyes, dark brown curly hair and a shit-eating grin. James banged insistently against Aleks’ door.

“Aleks your dad said that we’re going to be late. You don’t want to make me late on my first day, do you?”

“I’d rather you never fucking showed up at all, thanks.”

“Aleksandr, that’s not very nice Aleksandr. I’m going to tell your father.”

 

James jumped backwards when the door opened. He got a glimpse of Aleks’ room before the door was slammed behind the other boy. Aleks’ outfit was reminiscent of the day before except for the shirt.

“Is that a pizza cat?”

Aleks shoved past James. He walked a few steps down the stairs. He paused on the fourth step and turned to James.

“Yes, it’s a pizza cat.”

“It’s a pretty cool pizza cat.”

Aleks rushed down the stairs.

 

Aleks found his father and Dan in the kitchen. Jordan stood at the sink as he scrubbed the remains of breakfast away from the pan. He had left an empty bowl on the table with a box of overly sugary cereal out for Aleks. Dan was pouring the milk into his coffee. When he saw Aleks, he pushed the carton towards the bowl.

“I’m leaving.”

“But Aleks, what about breakfast?”

“I’ll get some at school.”

Aleks scooped his keys up from the bowl on the table. Dan tried to push the cereal closer to him but Aleks turned away from it. James waited patiently by the door.

“You can walk.”

“Aleks, be nice to your brother.”

“He’s not my brother!”

 

Aleks took a deep breath as the car door slammed beside him. James slouched in the seat. He tried to throw his legs up on top of the dashboard but they slipped and kicked the gear stick instead.

“Will you quit that? I was serious, you can walk.”

“Aleksandr, that’s not very nice. You’ve got to look after me today.”

“Fuck that, you can look after yourself and I told you. It’s Aleks, A-L-E-K-S.”

James swung his entire body toward Aleks. His fingers paused on the seatbelt.

“You mean, A-L-E-X.”

“I know how to spell my fucking name dude.”

“Are you sure?”

Aleks swerved the car to the right. James cried out as his head collided with the window.

 

James glued himself to Aleks’ side as they walked through the main entrance of the school. Heads turned and people whispered as they walked by. Aleks kept his head down.

“Where’s the guidance councillor’s office? Your dad said I have to go to the guidance councillor’s office.”

Aleks pointed half-heartedly in front of him.

“Aleksandr, the hallway splits two ways up there. What way am I supposed to go? I’ll need you to guide me.”

“Leave me alone.”

 

Aleks was thankful for his locker when he opened it and it hid James’ face. Aleks dropped his backpack onto the ground. He squatted down to rifle through it for his chemistry textbook. He frowned as the sound of loud, thundering footsteps drew closer and closer.

“And his name was EDDIE CENA!”

Aleks’ locker door slammed.

“Dun dah dah dun.”

“Seamus, baby, we’ve been planning this. You can do better than that!”

“Right, sorry. DUN DAH DAH DUN!”

 

Aleks screamed. The world was a blur until he nosedived into James’ crotch.

“Aleks, incest!”

James shoved Aleks away. Aleks fell onto his ass.

“You’re not my brother!”

Aleks scrambled to get himself up onto his feet. He dusted himself off when he stood.

“Oh, so this is your dad’s boyfriend’s son? That’s a mouthful,” Seamus’ mouth contorted around the words.

“That’s not the only thing that’s a mouthful.”

Eddie held his hand up for a high five. Seamus shook his head at him. Eddie pouted and lowered his hand. He offered it to James instead.

“I’m Eddie, this is my boo Seamus.”

“James.”

 

Once they’d shaken hands, Eddie got a funny look on his face.

“Wait, aren’t you the guy Aleks made out with at the party?”

“No. He’s not the guy. He’s not even close,” Aleks snapped.

“But he’s got the dreamy eyes, the luscious long locks and the kissable lips.”

“I’m right here you know,” Seamus pouted.

“I know baby you’re all those things and more.”

Eddie stoked Seamus’ cheek. Seamus leaned into the touch. Across from them, James blushed.

“Do you really think that about me Aleks?”

“That wasn’t about you. I kissed loads of guys at that party.”

“No your emo ass didn’t,” Seamus muttered.

 

Aleks hit Seamus’ shoulder. He ripped his locker door open and shoved his chemistry textbook inside. He swapped it for his English Literature textbook. Aleks had some trouble cramming the book into his backpack but he managed. He stood up and looked Eddie, Seamus and James in the eye one by one. Then he turned swiftly on his toes and stalked down the hallway. James shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Seamus looked at him oddly.

“You know I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before.”

“Oh yeah, today’s my first day.”

“But you were at the party.”

“Yeah, I just walked past and someone handed me a beer and I thought fuck it.”

“Fair enough.”

 

James was grateful when Seamus and Eddie took pity on him and escorted him to the guidance councillor’s office. He didn’t really listen too much of what she said to him. She led him to his next class and from there James was guided by kind-hearted classmates and just before lunch, Seamus. James was glad to see a semi-friendly face when he sat next to Seamus in History class. Though Seamus barely talked to him, eyes fixed on his phone even when the teacher attempted to confiscate it from him. When the bell rang, Seamus simply got up and headed to the door. James thought that he was going to leave him behind. He rushed out into the hallway to find that Seamus had waited for him. Without a word, Seamus led James to the cafeteria.

 

They bought their food and headed out into the crowd. It wasn’t hard to spot Aleks and Eddie. Aleks stood out like a sore thumb in head to toe black. Their foreheads almost touched as the duo leaned over the table to whisper to one another.

“So if you were to date him, would that be that incest?”

“He’s not my brother, Eddie.”

“So you guys can date? Aw, I ship it.”

“I will never date him.”

 

James slid into the spot beside Aleks. He knocked their trays together. Aleks shifted away until half of his ass hung off of the side of the bench. Seamus nudged Eddie’s shoulder as he sat down beside him. He plonked his tray down and reached over to pick a fry from Eddie’s tray.

“What were you two gossiping about?”

“James.”

“Nothing.”

Aleks threw a fry at Eddie’s head. It bounced off and landed on his tray. It was there for only a second before Seamus vacuumed it up. Aleks rolled his eyes and turned to James instead.

“Don’t you have your own friends yet?”

“Sure, I’ve got you guys.”

James swung his arm around Aleks’ shoulder and pulled him impossibly closer. Aleks tried to worm his way out of his grip but only served to snuggle further into James’ arms.

“Smile for the camera!”

 

A bright white light blinded Aleks. No matter how many times he blinked, his eyes only saw dots of colour. He shook James’ arm from his shoulder and pointed at Eddie.

“Delete that shit.”

“But I want it as my wallpaper!”

“Hey, nobody replaces me as your lock screen.”

Seamus snatched Eddie’s phone away from him. He tucked it into his jeans’ pocket.

“I got you Aleks, don’t worry.”

“Have you? Wasn’t it you who brought him over here in the first place?”

“I thought you might want to see him.”

“Apparently I can’t escape him.”

 

James pouted. His fingers pinched at thin air as he edged them close to Aleks’ tray. Aleks slapped his hand away. He grabbed a fistful of fries and shoved them into his mouth. James reached for the last fry left on Aleks’ plate. Aleks snatched it up and pushed it into his mouth. Everyone at the table recoiled as drool spilled down Aleks’ chin. He tried to chew around the wad of potato but it only seemed to grow in his mouth.

“Are you ok?” James asked, giving Aleks a concerned look.

He placed a hand on Aleks’ shoulder to steady him. Aleks nodded as tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. He tried to swallow the mound of potato in his mouth but couldn’t shift it, only causing him to gag slightly.

“Dude, just spit it out,” Seamus said with a roll of his eyes.

Aleks glared at him and shook his head, determination blazing in his eyes. There was no way in hell he would show any signs of weakness in front of James, even if every fibre of his being was screaming at him to just stop all of this. With one final push, Aleks managed to swallow the remains of fries in his mouth. Seamus and Eddie stood up and clapped enthusiastically. James continued to watch Aleks.

“What? I’m fine!” Aleks snapped at James, standing up. The bench screeched loudly against the floor. James’ arm lingered in mid-air where he’d been shaken off. The entire cafeteria looked over at the sound and at the now red faced Aleks. He huffed and stormed out and left the others staring at his back.

“He has to stop doing that,” Eddie said and Seamus nodded next to him.

“Yeah, he has to face his problems sometimes.”


	4. Just messin' with ya, man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks reaches his boiling point with James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not one but two duh doo dah dah doo!
> 
> ... Yes, I sounded that out several times to get the perfect tune. Enjoy!
> 
> (Also, as always, if you can tell me what you like/think should be done better with the story it's appreciated. Your love makes ignoring my assignments and real life responsibilities worth it!)

Aleks chucked his keys onto the kitchen table. They scraped across the surface and flew off of the other end with a thud. Dan looked up from his kindle and watched them go. When he turned to the door, Aleks was gone. James stood against the doorframe with a wide grin.

“Aleksandr!”

Jordan’s head popped over James’ shoulder. He looked to James for an explanation but the teenager only shrugged and shook his head.

“Well, I hope he cheers up enough for dinner. I’m going to make fries,” Dan beamed.

“That’s probably not the best idea.”

“You like my fries!”

“We had them at school today, Dad. Maybe you could make Aleks your Bolognese instead?”

“I guess that will have to do.”

 

James peeled away from the doorframe. He stepped past Jordan and marched up the stairs. At the landing, he glanced towards Aleks’ room. The door was slightly ajar. James walked up to it. His hand lingered on the handle before he pulled it closed. He continued down the hall to his room and shut himself inside. There wasn’t much to do in his room yet. His TV sat unplugged on the floor because Jordan had insisted that he build him a new entertainment stand. His laptop charger was still inside his backpack but to reach inside and grab it felt like too much effort. The clothes he’d worn over the weekend were still on the floor. His bed was as he’d left it this morning, unmade and inviting. He flopped onto it and huffed into the pillow.

 

James grunted as he rolled over. Dan’s hand lingered on his shoulder. He smiled down at his son and shook his head slowly.

“Aw, did you have a big day?”

James shook his dad off. He rubbed at his eyes and failed to supress a yawn.

“Why’d you wake me up?”

“It’s time for dinner, you numpty. I made Bolognese like you suggested.”

James nodded. He stretched as he stood up. He would have just left had it not been for Dan’s disapproving gaze at his bed. He grabbed the corner of his duvet and threw it over. It fell almost perfectly but the sheet was still wrinkled when it settled. James shrugged it off and headed out of the door. Dan didn’t follow for a little while and James knew that when he returned to his room his bed would be perfectly made for him.

 

Aleks was already slumped over the kitchen table. His fork turned and turned in his spaghetti. The pasta got thicker and thicker at the bottom of the utensil.

“Be careful there, Aleks. That’ll be quite a mouthful,” Dan said.

“It’s not the first mouthful he’s had today.”

James dropped into the seat across from Aleks. He grinned at him. Aleks threw his fork against his plate. His glare pierced through James’ head. James slowly winked at him.

“Dad, can we swap seats?”

“No, Aleks you can stay where you are.”

Jordan spun his own spaghetti around his fork and bundled it up just as Aleks had done. Dan reached over the table to lay a gentle hand upon his wrist. Jordan looked from his spaghetti to his boyfriend. He slowly unwound the spaghetti until it was a Dan-approved amount.

 

They ate mostly in silence. Jordan and Dan tried to liven up the dinner by asking the boys about their day but the pair simply dodged them. James wolfed his dinner down. He scraped his fork against his plate. With every mouthful, the sound interrupted the silence. He ignored his own father’s disapproving gaze and stared intently at Aleks instead. On the third or fourth scrape, Aleks finally looked up. His eyes were hard and unforgiving. James smiled. He took a bite of his spaghetti and made sure that there was a string sticking out of his lips. Without breaking eye contact with Aleks, he sucked the pasta in slowly. He swallowed. His tongue peeked out from between his lips. James dragged it from one end of his mouth to the other.

 

Heat rose to Aleks’ cheeks. He forced his food down his throat. He reached for the pitcher of juice Dan had placed in the middle of the table. As his hand closed around it, James’ hand closed around his. James snickered and rubbed his thumb against the back of Aleks’ hand. Aleks tugged the juice away from James and glared at him. He mouthed the word ‘stop’ to James. James mouthed ‘no’ back at him. Aleks kicked him under the table. James covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Jordan and Dan glanced at their sons but didn’t say anything. They were just glad that neither of them had resorted to throwing food at one another yet. Aleks went to kick James again but James caught his foot between his own. Aleks tried to use his other foot to help him break free. James’ feet held strong.

“James.”

“Aleks.”

“Fuckin’ stop.”

 

Aleks shrugged off his father’s death glare. James released his foot. Aleks slumped in his chair. He picked up his fork to continue to eat his dinner. He jumped as James recaptured his legs. Aleks dropped his fork once more. He sighed heavily.

“James, can we talk?”

“Sure, what would you like to talk about?”

“James.”

“Me? Well, how nice of you to ask Aleksandr. I like video games, marvel movies and long walks on the beach.”

Aleks tugged his legs free. He stood up from the table and stood in the doorway. He looked back at James for a second and then stormed upstairs. James shrugged.

“Excuse me, apparently the drama queen wants to talk.”

Jordan and Dan shared a look. Without words, they questioned whether they should follow James and see what was up with their sons. Dan chewed upon his lower lip. Jordan spun his fork absent-mindedly. Dan knew he’d come to a decision when he shovelled some spaghetti into his mouth. He glanced back at the door but then shrugged.

“Foos gooh,” Jordan lifted his cleaned-off fork high in the air. Dan rolled his eyes.

 

 

When James got upstairs, he noticed that Aleks’ door was ajar again. He pushed it open this time and walked right in. Aleks had his back to him. He fiddled with something on his desk. James pushed the door closed behind him. His mouth fell open.

“Dude, your room is pink.”

“No it’s not, its red.”

James shook his head. The walls of Aleks’ room were definitely not dark enough to be red. They were littered in an odd assortment of posters ranging from bands that all had either the word dead or blood in the name to mainstream movie posters and a couple of anime posters including a rather large one of Sasuke Uchiha.

“It’s definitely pink.”

“It’s a lightish red.”

“Pink.”

“We’re not here to talk about my fucking room, James.”

Aleks dropped what he had been fiddling with onto his desk. James smirked when he saw it was a figurine of Sasuke Uchiha.

“You like a lot of anime for a goth.”

“Fuck off.”

 

The more James looked around Aleks’ room, the less edgy it looked. The walls were pink, or lightish red, and some of the posters were quite gory but there were hints of life in Aleks’ room still. There were neon boxers mixed in with black jeans on the floor, Disney movies nestled in against budget horror flicks and a teddy bear perched upon Aleks’ dark grey duvet cover. Aleks took a seat on his bed. James saw it fit to follow him. He accidentally sat down on the foot of the bear and Aleks ripped it out from under him. He gazed fondly at it before he threw it down onto the floor. James leaned into Aleks’ space.

“Feel familiar?”

Aleks shoved him away. He got up from the bed and walked to the middle of his room. He slipped his hands into his pockets. He kicked at the floor with the toe of his shoe.

“You’ve got to stop coming onto me, man.”

“Coming onto you?”

“The fries, the jokes, the fuckin’ spaghetti.”

The image of James slurping up the spaghetti still haunted Aleks’ mind. He shifted in his jeans. James laughed from behind him.

“I’m just messin’ with ya.”

 

Aleks growled, actually growled, as he spun on his heel to face James. He ripped his hands from his pockets and threw them up into the air. He opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut again. He walked three steps forward and four steps back. Aleks dug his fingers into his hair. He huffed loudly. James leaned back on Aleks’ bed.

“Look, I get it.”

“No, you don’t get it. You being here is the worst thing that could ever happen to me.”

“All right, calm down.”

“No. No, I won’t calm down. You’re a huge fucking prick, do you know that?”

James rolled his eyes. His feet kicked at the teddy bear on the floor. He picked it up between them and lifted it so that his hands could grab it instead. He held it up in front of his face and made it dance side to side as he spoke in a squeaky voice.

“Don’t be mad at James, Aleks – he’s not that bad of a guy.”

“Get out.”

 

James peeked over the head of the bear. Aleks glared down at him. His right arm pointed at his door. James’ lips twitched into a smile that quickly wilted under Aleks’ intense stare.

“Aleks, c’mon – I’ll cool it with the jokes.”

“I don’t want to look at you right now or, better yet, ever again.”

“Be a bit hard, what with our dads dating and living together.”

Aleks pointed a finger in James’ face. He jabbed it forward over and over again when he spoke.

“I don’t fucking care. Leave my room and don’t bother speaking to me again. Don’t even try.”

Aleks grabbed James by the shoulder. His fingers dug into James’ bicep as he yanked him up off of his bed. James stumbled over his feet as he was shoved towards the door. He fell forward into the hallway and had to catch himself on the wall. The door closed in his face.

 

James frowned at the door. He looked down at the bear still in his hand. He raised his fist to knock against the door. It opened before his hand could touch the wood. Aleks’ brooding face appeared in its place. The bear was snatched from James’ hand. The door shut once more. James was left alone. He stood there for what felt like days, weeks even before a hand on his shoulder caused him to turn around. Dan rubbed his shoulder.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is all right.”

Dan pulled his son in for a hug. He rubbed at James’ back and stared quizzically at Aleks’ closed door.


	5. Ghosted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks takes extreme measures to make sure James never speaks to him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter both reflects my writing and what I've done for like what, a week or two?
> 
> But for those who have ever read ANY of my series in the past year... you know me. I do this and I'd like to blame University, my own lack of trying and well, just myself.

James didn’t see Aleks after that. By the time he’d woke up for school, Aleks would be gone. Jordan would offer him an apologetic smiling face-shaped breakfast and offer to drive him in. James would shake him off, take the bus and search for Aleks in the hallways. But he skipped the classes that they shared together, had lunch off campus and stayed at Eddie’s until James had gone to bed. James tried to leave him notes, got his number off of Jordan and called and called until his phone died but Aleks would never pick up. The notes were found crumpled in the bin hours later. James knocked on his door several times and just walked in on one occasion. The bed was made, Aleks’ laptop was missing and the only sign that Aleks had even been there would be the ever growing laundry pile in the corner.

 

“I’m so sorry he’s like this.”

Jordan sat on the couch with his head in his hands. He sighed heavily and pulled at his hair. Dan perched beside him. He wrapped his arm around Jordan’s shoulder and leaned against him.

“There’s no need to apologise, we knew it was going to be hard.”

“But he’s making it so difficult. For no reason!”

“Look, I’ll talk to him.”

“Fat chance, it’s like living with a damn ghost. He’s never here!”

Dan sighed. He’d tried to get up early to catch Aleks before he dashed out the door but the boy caught on quick and seemed to leave at three o’clock in the morning. He couldn’t stand what it was doing to Jordan. He locked himself inside his shed and came out days later with a new shelf for the living room or a bedside table for one of the bedrooms. He’d told Dan he was working on that new picnic bench with a snide remark about how there was no need now that Aleks had forcefully ejected himself from their family.

 

James watched it all from the hallway. He stole Dan’s car keys from the table Jordan had made a week ago and marched out the door. He closed it gently so that they wouldn’t notice he had slipped out. James sighed in relief when he saw that Dan’s car was parked behind Jordan’s. There was a big, gaping hole where Aleks’ car should have been. James slipped into the driver’s side. He reached across the steering wheel and opened up the glove compartment. Dan’s glove compartment had always been messy but ever since he’d moved into Jordan’s it seemed to have been cleaned up slightly. James rifled for the book he knew Jordan had stashed there ‘in case of emergencies’. He pulled it out and flicked through the pages. His eyes skimmed over the list of addresses and he snorted when he saw that their own address was written in big bold letters on the front page. He flicked through a couple of pages until he reached the page entitled ‘places Aleks might be’.

  1. _His room._
  2. _At school._
  3. _At Eddie’s._



James inputted the address into his phone. He threw it onto the dashboard as it demanded he take a left. Out of curiosity, James flicked forward to his own name.

  1. _His room._
  2. _At school._
  3. _At Eddie’s?_



James scoffed. Aleks was possibly right. He really did need to make his own friends.

 

Eddie looked up from Seamus’ chest when somebody knocked at the door. He looked up at his boyfriend but Seamus only shrugged.

“Eddie, get the door already.”

Aleks’ eyes never left the TV. His fingers flew across the controller.

“Why don’t you go and get it?” Eddie cuddled closer to Seamus.

“It’s your house.”

“You seem to have settled in quite nicely.”

Eddie cried out when a pillow hit him in the face. He chucked it aside and glared at Aleks. Whoever was at the door continued to knock. Seamus grumbled when Eddie untangled himself from his arms. On his way to the door Eddie made sure to kick at Aleks’ shins.

 

Eddie’s mouth fell open when he saw who was on the other side.

“Where is he?”

James peered around Eddie’s head. He took a step towards the door but Eddie blocked his way with his arms.

“He’s not here.”

“That’s a lie and we both know it.”

James shouldered his way past him. Eddie cried out and fell into the wall. James spotted Seamus through an open door and he marched towards him. Seamus held his hands up in surrender. He pointed to the armchair James had rushed past.

 

Aleks scowled up at James. James gestured with his fingers for Aleks to stand up.

“C’mon, get up. We’re going home.”

“I’m fine thanks.”

“Yeah? Well your dad fucking isn’t so get up.”

James grabbed Aleks by the arm in a manner reminiscent to how Aleks had thrown him out of his room. He got Aleks to his feet before James was shoved off. Aleks came at him with balled up fists. James raised his arms to keep himself from getting battered. A fist slipped through and caught him on the lip. James grimaced as blood trickled down his chin. He was grateful when Seamus shot up and grabbed Aleks by the arms. He pulled them behind Aleks’ back and kept him from lunging at James again. Eddie stepped between them all with his hands outstretched.

“James, I think you should leave.”

“He needs to stop being a pissy baby and come home.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Aleks spat in James’ direction. Eddie pulled a face at Aleks and wiped the spit from his cheek.

“I’ll make sure he gets home safe, James. Just leave please.”

Eddie pressed an insistent hand against James’ chest. James scowled but got the hint.

 

Nobody moved after James had left. They all stood in silence as they caught their breath. Aleks coughed. He wriggled against Seamus’ hold. Seamus dropped his arms and pat his back.

“Thanks, guys.”

“He’s right, you know. You’ve got to go home sometime.”

“I do go home.”

“An hour or two a day doesn’t count Aleks.”

Aleks slumped into the armchair. Seamus perched himself on one of the armrests. Eddie took a seat on the other. They both gazed down at Aleks like disapproving parents. Aleks looked down.

“Your dad is probably ripping his hair out.”

“Or building birdhouses,” Seamus laughed. “I still have that one he built after he’d given you the talk.”

“Yeah, it was really weird how he chose that off-white colour to paint it with.”

Aleks shuddered. He smiled a little at the thought of his father building more birdhouses than he had room for. His smile quickly faded.

“I’m not going home. Not until he’s gone.”

Seamus and Eddie peeled themselves off of the armrests. They both groaned in unison. They shared a look with one another. Seamus shrugged slightly. He dropped back down onto the couch. Eddie glanced one more time in Aleks’ direction before he followed his boyfriend’s lead.

 

James sped back home. He swerved the car into the driveway and tumbled out of the door. He walked inside with his shoulders squared. As the door shut behind him, James squeezed his eyes shut. He opened one when the yelling he’d anticipated did not come.  No one had come from the living room to scold him for taking the car. James dropped the keys onto the table. He peeked around the edge of the door. Dan lay on the sofa. He hummed softly as he carded his fingers through Jordan’s hair. Jordan’s face was soft and slack. His eyes were closed. James smiled at them both and then slipped up the stairs before Dan could notice his face.

 

Once he’d got up the stairs, James had intended to go to the bathroom and wipe his lip. But something stopped him at the top of the stairs. He glanced at Aleks’ door. It was still ajar from where Aleks snuck out that morning. James wiped the blood from his lip with the back of his hand. He felt for his phone and headed into Aleks room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I promise (AND SPAM ME ON TUMBLR OR WHATEVER IF I DON'T) to upload tomorrow as well, and then perhaps every other day (deadlines are coming and I'm ready to die tbh) if I can. Basically I'm twelve - thirteen chapters in so I've got content to throw at you.


	6. Breaking Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James enacts revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When it's almost 3am and you just don't want to write this essay anymore... you upload fanfic instead.

Aleks pulled his hood over his head. Everyone seemed so obsessed with him today. From the moment he had stepped out of his car, people had stared at him. Eddie had declared it was because his hair was “on fleek” today but all Aleks had done was run his fingers through it. Even if it was true, Eddie’s reasoning did not explain the snickers that had followed Aleks around all day.

“Figured he’d like Sasuke, fucking emo.”

“What emo has pink walls?”

Aleks whipped around. Two girls looked in his direction and laughed. Aleks’ brows furrowed. He shrugged it off. They couldn’t be talking about him, he thought. Nobody but Eddie, Seamus and his dad knew about his room.

 

Aleks headed to his next class. It was only once he’d sat down that he realised it was one he was supposed to share with James. Aleks would have got up and left but the teacher gave him a look that kept Aleks glued to his seat. He glanced around the room. The class was in a lab and if Aleks remembered it right, it was supposed to be biology. The benches were arranged in little circles so that the students had to sit in groups of four or six. Aleks had snagged a bench right at the back, far in the corner so that he could hide from everyone. It was the perfect place to people watch as well. A couple of girls filtered in and sat in the middle of the room. Aleks scowled at them as they glanced back at him. They whispered to one another and laughed at his expense. Aleks glanced down at his outfit. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him – black on black on black. Sure, he’d been wearing it for a few days now but nobody cared that much in high school. As more people piled in and stared oddly at him Aleks started to shift in his seat.

 

Most people that came to the class sat at the back by Aleks but they still kept a wide berth. Aleks tensed as someone slipped into the seat directly next to him. A quick glance to his left and he uttered a groan. A jock Aleks briefly remembered from the party loomed over him.

“So, what’s he called?”

Aleks frowned and pulled his hood tighter over his face. The jock nudged his arm.

“Is it Mr Snuggles? Fluffy? Or is it something emo like Blood Bear?”

Aleks swallowed. He inched his hood off of his face. The jock leered at him.

“What are you fucking on about?”

“You know, your teddy bear?”

 

Aleks’ faced paled considerably. He swallowed and a lump formed in his throat. His fingers slipped over his jeans. He jerked his head away from the jock and out into the classroom. His eyes fell on a group of students huddled around the bench in the middle of the room. Aleks grit his teeth. Two girls hung on the arm of a familiar, curly-haired teenager. As though he sensed Aleks was looking at him, James turned to face him. His eyes studied the expression painted across Aleks’ face and then he grinned. Aleks’ phone beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out. He never took his eyes off of James. He wouldn’t, couldn’t look away. But his phone buzzed again and Aleks couldn’t stand it any longer.

_Fucking asshole:_

_You should really get a lock on your door. Enjoy the pictures!_

They came one after the other and each photo was more damning than the last. The first was a simple shot of Aleks’ whole room. The second was a close up on his pink walls. The third was a shot of his posters, more specifically the Naruto poster. The fourth was the most invasive because James had pulled out all of Aleks’ Disney films and laid them out on his bed. The fifth was a shot of his teddy bear, Cuddles, tucked into his duvet. Aleks slammed his hand onto the table. The jock beside him laughed again. It echoed around the room. Aleks took a deep breath. It was going to be a long, long, loooooooong day.

 

Jordan paced back and forth across the kitchen. He chewed at the nubs of his nails. He pulled a chair out at the table, then tucked it back in again. Jordan clenched his hand around the top. He pulled the chair out again. This time he sat down.

“Do you think it would be awful if I took his car keys?”

“Would it keep him here?”

Dan folded his arms across his chest. He had watched Jordan from the corner of the kitchen. He was glad that his boyfriend had finally sat down as his head had started to spin. Jordan stared absent-mindedly at the table. After a minute or two, he shook his head and sighed heavily.

“How about I make you some hot chocolate and we can think of a better solution?”

Jordan nodded numbly. Dan chose the most expensive pot of hot chocolate they owned. It wasn’t the time for cheap, instant hot chocolate. It was as he grabbed the milk that the front door slammed. Jordan and Dan looked at one another.

“James?”

 

Jordan’s eyes lit up when Aleks scowled at them from the doorway. His body cast a shadow that cut through the pastel tiles. His eyes were almost black.

“Don’t ever fucking say his name again, I want him gone.”

“Gone?”

“Yes dad, fucking gone. Out of here. Away from me.”

Jordan looked at Dan for some help. Dan dropped the hot chocolate tub and edged his way to Aleks.

“Aleks, what’s your problem?” Jordan asked.

Dan reached out to Aleks. Aleks flinched away from him. He stormed towards his father and pointed accusingly into his face.

“You. You brought him here. You let him into our house and he ruined everything.”

Jordan’s breath caught in his throat. He hiccupped. Aleks drew away from him but his gaze never faltered. Furious. Unforgiving. Hurt. It’s all Jordan could see swimming behind his irises.

 

Dan came over to them both. He cupped Jordan’s shoulder with one hand and Aleks’ with the other.

“Clearly, there are some issues that need to be resolved,” Dan said. “They’re not going to be resolved by screaming at one another or disappearing for days on end.”

Aleks shrugged the hand off of his shoulder. His eyes shot quickly to Dan’s face.

“What are you suggesting?”

“That we all take some time to get to know each other.”

“I’m not-“

“I know, I know. You don’t want to see him. Do you have anything against me?”

Aleks shook his head. For all the hatred, for all of the frustration he felt towards James he could not blame Dan. Dan was nice, always had been and Aleks was sure no matter what he did he always would be. Dan smiled glumly back at him.

“What if Jordan and James spend a weekend somewhere together and we’ll do the same?”

“I’m not leaving the house,” Aleks swallowed. He might get recognised if he did that. If he had his way, he was never leaving this house again.

“Then we don’t have to. Jordan and James can go camping or something.”

Jordan nodded slowly. His eyes never left Aleks’.

 

They all jumped when the door shut again. James tiptoed into the room. He tensed when he saw Aleks stare back at him. Dan cupped Aleks’ shoulder once more. With a gentle squeeze, he kept Aleks in place. Dan nodded at his son.

“You just go up and pack your bag, James. You and Jordan are going to go on a trip.”

James mirrored his father’s nod. He glanced once at Jordan, then at Aleks and then he started up the stairs. Aleks took a deep breath. He pulled out a chair and slumped into it. Jordan reached across the table to give his son some comfort but Aleks pulled away from him.

“You should pack too, Dad. You don’t want to keep him waiting.”

Jordan choked back a small sob. He looked to Dan. He found little comfort in Dan’s tight smile. Jordan clapped his hands and the sound felt deafening. He rubbed them together and got up from the table. When he passed Dan, he paused briefly for Dan to kiss his cheek and then moved out into the hallway. He glanced back at his son slumped at the table but Aleks never looked back.


	7. A weekend away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James gets banished for what he's done...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone miss me? Probably not but here's the sitch:
> 
> So I wrote this story, saved up a few chapters so that I could post over deadline season in my final term of university and it was all going swell until well, my laptop combusted. Overheated, gave up after it's 6 year lifespan and went caput. I almost died with it, desperately rewriting or finishing essays that were due within a week. Then I was laptopless until my 22nd Birthday (3 days ago, I might add) when I was bestowed with my new baby. I call her Doris.
> 
> Luckily for you, my harddrive was saved and Stepboyfriends lives (if only I can find said harddrive, this copy of stepboyfriends was taken from a google drive) and so here it is. In all it's glory - look forward to weekly updates again guys!
> 
> xoxo Tinypeckers (not the same ring as GG but we're here for it anyway)

 “His walls were supposed to be red,” Jordan flicked the turn signal. “I just got the wrong shade and well, he just laughed and let me paint it.”

“That doesn’t sound like Aleks.”

Jordan shrugged. Sure, he had been angry at Jordan at first. He’d told Jordan he needed to be more observant and that it was clearly pink. But then he’d laughed. His mouth had stretched all wide and his teeth had gleamed in the quickly setting sun. Aleks had a lovely smile. Jordan’s face mimicked Aleks’ on that day. James gazed out of the window.

“Aleks hates everyone to start with.”

“He didn’t hate my dad.”

Jordan barked out a laugh. He cupped a hand over his mouth. He fell over onto the steering wheel and lost sight of the road for a split second. James frowned at him. He reached across to hold onto the wheel and keep the car steady. Jordan sat up quickly and wiped at his eyes.

“Once, when your dad stayed the night, Aleks offered to make us breakfast in bed. He burnt it. Literally left the bacon on the pan, let the toast blow smoke until the alarm got us out of bed. He was just sitting there, smiling, with his own properly cooked plate.”

“That’s not so bad,” James muttered. He knew Aleks could sulk better than that.

“He changed the locks the next time I asked your dad over. I had to call a locksmith. It was so embarrassing to say that your own son had locked you out.”

James grinned. That was genius, he’d have to give that to him. He’d wished he’d thought of something like that. He just avoided Jordan the first few times he’d come to visit.

“I think the first conversation I had with you was when you came out of the bathroom with my dad’s towel around your waist,” James recalled.

“You liked the music I was playing in the shower.”

“I figured you couldn’t be that bad if you had a good music taste, better than my dad’s.”

“You and Aleks will have that moment too, I’m sure,” Jordan hummed. At least, he hoped they would.

 

Jordan went quiet as they pulled into the camp site. There weren't many people pitched up for the weekend and those that had had brought a camper van. Of the few tents that were pitched up, most sagged to the ground. James stayed in the car as Jordan got out to announce their arrival. As the door opened, James was assaulted by a gust of wind that brought with it spit-like rain. He reached across and closed the door behind Jordan. He slammed his head against the seat behind him. So this was his weekend now? He thought. It should have been Aleks who was exiled, he’d been the one that had started all this mess. James braced himself against the rain as Jordan climbed back into the car. Jordan passed a map to James. James opened it up and stared at it. It had been scribbled on by someone at reception or even Jordan himself. They had circled the spot where Jordan and James were going to have to spend their weekend and put a cross where they were parked now. Jordan started the car again and looked at James. James took another glance at the map and cleared his throat.

 

It took them so long to find their pitch that even the rain gave up on them and just stopped. James had spent the entire time squinting at the map and telling Jordan to turn one way before he changed his mind and decided it was the other direction. By the time they’d parked, Jordan’s car was caked in mud from all the off-road u-turns he’d attempted driving to the pitch. James tried to make up for it by being extra helpful with the tent. He tried to thread the sticks through or help hammer down the pegs but Jordan brushed him aside and took control. James watched from a well-worn in folding chair as Jordan put up their tent faster than they’d found the pitch. When it was up, James offered to start the fire but again Jordan held his hand up and got a fire going with ease. James wasn’t sure what to do with himself. His leg jumped up and down. He clicked each of his knuckles methodically. When Jordan reached into his bag for their dinner, James wanted to offer to cook it all himself. That was until Jordan handed him a long stick, some chocolate, two crackers and an oversized marshmallow.

 

“We’re eating smores for dinner?”

James held up his stick and smirked at the marshmallow mess on the other end.

“Sorry, it’s all I packed.”Jordan smiled apologetically at James.

 He held his own smore over the fire until it was lightly toasted. He pulled the gooey treat from the stick he’d cooked it on and slurped it down. James shook his head.

“We’re going to have to go shopping tomorrow for some actual food.”

Jordan snorted around his bite. He wiped the sticky marshmallow from his lips.

“All right, who’s the adult here?” Jordan looked down as James pointed to his shirt. Some of the chocolate and marshmallow had dripped onto him. “Touché.”

James kicked at the dirt beneath his feet. He looked around their area. There wasn’t another tent in site, just miserably trod-in pitches and a couple of ugly trees.

“What are we even going to do for a couple of days? Why does Aleks get to mope at home and I have to suffer here?”

“You sent images of the parts of his room he’d be most embarrassed about to the entire school. Why shouldn’t you have to suffer?” Jordan raised his eyebrow.

“He deserved it. He fucked off and- and- and he just left you to deal with it.”

 

James threw his stick onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around his self. His fingers dug into his shoulders. Just the thought of Jordan sitting there, chewing his nails to brittle stubs made his blood boil all over again. Aleks was a little brat and should not have been rewarded for acting like one. James heard Jordan sigh heavily. The chair Jordan was sat in squeaked across the damp grass. The ugly bright green arm of the chair snuck into the corner of James’ eye.

“This whole situation is new for him. We underestimated how much of a change this would be. You can’t tell me you were completely fine when your dad said you were moving in with us?”

James scoffed. He’d been furious. It was such an irresponsible, stupid decision. Jordan had just been an occasional guest and then all of a sudden his Dad had decided that they were going to live together. He knew their situation wasn’t ideal, just the two of them, and he knew his dad was lonely but James had thought it was such an extreme decision. He’d told his dad as much but, after his dad’s face had fallen, had offered to help pack their bags as quick as possible.

“I just dealt with it. It’s what I had to do, what Aleks has to do.”

“Aleks just isn’t like that, I’m afraid,” Jordan sighed.

“Well you should have raised him better.”

 

James knew he’d said the wrong thing when Jordan got up from his chair. The tent unzipped and rustled as Jordan climbed in. When it zipped back up again, James knew that he wasn’t welcome to follow. He just sat there in silence and stared at the fire as it crackled. James’ foot nudged the stick he’d thrown and he leaned over to pick it up. James looked around. A few feet from their pitch was a communal trashcan. James scooped up Jordan’s stick from the ground as well and trudged over to it. He snapped each stick in half and crammed them in. James glanced back at the tent. Jordan had gone deathly silent once he’d climbed inside. With a heavy sigh, James stomped back to their little pitch. He snatched the map from Jordan’s bag and walked in the opposite direction they had drove in from.

 

It was dark by the time James made it back to the tent. He’d walked through a thin wooded area, found a lake, ran from a ferocious coyote that turned out to just be an aggressive dog and he’d managed to check out what little facilities the camp ground offered. He wasn’t impressed by the dingy washroom cubicle, the run down pub or the shop that was the size of a closet. It simply was not fair, he thought. Aleks had ruined everything, not him. He’d simply given the boy a taste of his own medicine. James wanted to stay at home, play some video games and relax. Instead he was here with nothing to do and now, after what he’d said, nobody to talk to. The service sucked, not that anybody was texting him anyway but it still annoyed James to have barely two bars. James could not wait to get home and yell at Aleks and blame him for the miserable time he was sure to have.

 

James kicked at the remains of their fire. It was nothing but ash now and the residue stuck to his shoe. Their pitch looked deserted. Jordan must have fallen asleep because their tent was still zipped up tight and dark. Nothing had moved since James had left. James shivered. He pulled his jacket closer to him. James walked to Jordan’s bag. The idiot had left it out in the open. James rifled through it until he found Jordan’s keys. He used them to unlock the car and he climbed into the back seat. He went to lay down but knew he wouldn’t have been able to relax knowing Jordan’s bag had been left outside. He sighed heavily to himself and rushed to grab it. He brought it into the car with him and used it as a pillow instead.

 

James shot up when the car door opened. He held his arm up over his face as the light attempted to blind him. A shadow began to loom over him. James lowered his arm and squinted.

“So that’s where my bag went.”

Jordan dragged his bag out from behind James. James rubbed at the back of his head. He glanced past Jordan and saw that the fire was already going. There was a little grill set up over the fire and a frying pan sat upon that. Jordan had already cracked an egg inside.

“How’d you get all this stuff?”

“My wallet was in my jeans, I never put it in my bag. I could lose that,” Jordan winked. James sniffed at the air. The eggs smelled so good, so inviting. Jordan walked towards the fire and mixed the eggs so that they scrambled. James hopped out of the car and shut the door behind him. He walked over to Jordan and slid his hands into his pockets.

“Can I help?”

 

Jordan looked up. James’ eyes had bags drooping underneath them. He had little checks imprinted upon his right cheek, most likely from sleeping on the bag. Jordan sighed.

“You can go clean up and change your clothes.”

James let out a breathy laugh. Jordan smiled up at him. He nodded in the direction of the wash room but James already knew where to go. As he walked away, he glanced over his shoulder. Jordan watched him. He nodded at James. James turned away and kept walking. He knew that all had been forgiven.

 

Once they’d had breakfast, Jordan took them to the lake James had found the night before. He set up the folding chairs all by himself, refusing James’ help, and even got the fishing rods ready for them both. He handed one to James and chuckled as James simply stared at it. He guided the teenager’s hands into the right position, taught him how to throw the bob out and reel it back in. Then he sat down in his own chair, rod nestled against his thigh, closed his eyes and relaxed. James noticed he’d worn a bright red hat today. He couldn’t resist reaching over and turning it backwards. Jordan huffed. He whipped the hat back around and James laughed. Jordan relaxed back against his chair but he kept one eye open, one eye trained on James, while the other got its rest.

 

James groaned. It was too quiet here. There was only the sound of the wind, of Jordan’s breathing, the slight bloop of the bubbles on the lake. James’ feet kicked at the ground. He needed to be stimulated. His thumbs fiddled with the rod. He groaned again. Longer, louder, more guttural. He kicked at Jordan’s feet. Jordan sighed heavily. He opened both his eyes and gave James a look. A dad look, a look that said ‘stop that right now or so help me’. James groaned again.

“I’m bored. Tell me a story.”

“What?”

“Tell me a story.”

“A fairy tale?” Jordan snorted.

“No. Tell me… tell me how my dad won over Aleks.”

James turned to look at Jordan. He still didn’t believe it was possible. He knew he’d seen Aleks and his dad talk but it could have all been an act. Aleks might only hate one person at once and James had just happened to take up the slot. Jordan shrugged.

 

“Well, a couple of months after your dad and I started dating – Aleks was begging me to let him see this movie. It was rated eighteen, so of course I told him he couldn’t. He was sixteen, much too young for a movie like that and still too young for a movie like that. But he went on, and on, and on. I stayed strong, told him that I was not going to buy it for him,” Jordan shifted in his chair.

 “But then you dad came over and I got called into work, one of the computers had combusted or something, so I asked him to stay with Aleks. I was nervous, they still had barely spoken since we’d started dating. But I had to leave so I did. I spent a few hours fixing a computer, worried the entire time that I was going to come home to a blood bath. I’m not proud of it but I ran several red lights to get back there. I opened the door and there they were, laughing with one another and talking. Actually talking!”

James frowned. He gave Jordan a look.

“That’s it? They just started talking?”

Jordan shook his head.

“I thought that, for a few days. Thought Aleks had finally warmed to your dad and that they bonded. They had bonded but not through talking. I found the case to that flippin’ DVD stashed under the couch. God, I wanted to rip your dad’s hair out but at the time he was bald and well, they were getting along. I didn’t want to mess it all up. I’ve never forgiven your dad for that.” Jordan glared at the ground.

 

James chewed upon his lower lip. So his dad won Aleks over by showing him an age gated movie? James was eighteen, he could get Aleks any movie he wanted. Though he guessed he’d have to do more than that now. James groaned again. He let his head fall back against the top of the chair.

“That doesn’t help at all. I don’t think Aleks would appreciate me giving him a movie.”

Jordan laughed and shook his head.

“No, but maybe you could start by giving him some space. I’m sure you’ll find something in common eventually.”

James sighed. They had found common ground. At the party. When they’d kissed. James could like anime, if he tried to watch it, and he could even endure a couple of minutes of that screaming music Aleks liked. If Aleks would just warm up a little and stop ruining it for their dads – James could do anything.

 

They never did catch a fish. Though James did come close, but he didn’t reel it in fast enough and he lost it. Jordan said that it didn’t matter but James felt dejected as they walked back to the campsite. He offered to cook them dinner to make up for it but Jordan shrugged him off and cooked it for them. When they were full, and the sun had set, Jordan suggested that they go to bed because they were going to get up early in the morning. James snorted. His phone told him that it was only eight in the evening but Jordan insisted so he followed. He sighed in content when he laid down in his sleeping bag. Although it wasn’t cushioned like the back of the car was, there was something much nicer about sharing the tent with Jordan than sleeping alone outside.

 

When Jordan woke him up at the crack of dawn, James did not want to leave. He huffed and curled himself up further in the bag. Jordan dragged him out by his feet and dumped him onto the cold, hard floor. James unzipped himself and scowled at his stepfather. Jordan rolled his eyes at him and pointed to their fold out chairs. He’d set them up in the corner of their pitch so that they were facing the sun as it slowly peeked out from the ground. James followed Jordan’s finger and took a seat. Together, they watched as the sun bathed them in a gorgeous light that painted a pretty picture in the morning sky.

 

It was so beautiful that James did not have to use a filter when he uploaded a picture of the sky to his snapchat story. Well, he tried to but it failed.

“You know a lot about this place,” James put his phone in his pocket.

“I take Aleks here every year.”

“He doesn’t seem the camping type.”

Jordan shook his head.

“He wasn’t. When I first brought him home, I took him here a couple of months later. It was an exhausting weekend.”

“I can imagine, what idiot takes a newborn to a camp ground?”

 

Jordan glanced at James. An odd expression passed over his face. His eyebrows dove towards his nose. His teeth worried his lower lip. Jordan’s eyes flicked away from James. They stared into the ground.

“He was five.”

“Five months old? Still crazy, man.”

“Five years old.”

Jordan chewed on his nails. James’ mouth fell open. Five years old?  That couldn’t be right. That would mean that… that…

“Aleks was adopted?”

Jordan nodded. James scratched at his head. Now that he thought about it, Jordan and Aleks didn’t look too much alike. James just assumed that Aleks got his looks from his mother, like he had.

“He came all the way from Russia. Didn’t speak much the first few months, couldn’t really. I tried teaching him English but he wouldn’t listen. He learnt a lot from that Japanese show, the one with the run? I couldn’t stand the voice acting but it got him out of his shell.”

“Did he do the run?” James smirked a little.

“Oh yeah, we both did. It was the only way I could get him to smile. Especially here – he couldn’t stand it here. It was just me and him, alone, and he didn’t understand what I was saying half the time. But he knew that run,” Jordan smiled to himself. “After that he got used to me, stuck to my side and cried when I dropped him off at school until Eddie came along.”

James relaxed into his seat. Eddie was the only person, aside from Seamus, James had ever seen Aleks speak to at school. Aleks tended to blend in and avoided talking to anybody he didn’t have to. James let out a deep breath.

After his act of revenge, he’d just made it impossible for Aleks to do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been denied writing these for months now, let me have a second note.
> 
> Deja vu anyone? I can't help but think these characters have spent an awful lot of time at a campsite... ;)


	8. Bitter Coffee, bitter personality.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though it's the last thing he wants to talk about, Aleks ends up learning a lot about Dan and James' past while his father and James are at the camp site.

When they had gone, Dan sat down at the table across from Aleks. He placed a mug down and pushed it towards him. Aleks peered into the cup and snorted.

“Don’t like hot chocolate.”

“Everyone likes hot chocolate,” Dan squirted whipped cream into the mug.

“Prefer black coffee.”

“Personally, I find that quite bitter.” Dan dusted the top with chocolate flakes. 

Aleks had never known their house to have chocolate flakes. He held back a smile at the thought of his dad grumbling to Dan about the calories and how unhealthy it was for you. Aleks schooled his face quite quickly.

“Yeah, well, my dad makes it for me.”

“Your dad makes a lot of stuff,” Dan muttered.

 

Aleks looked up then. Dan had nudged the mug toward him. He’d stuck half a kit kat inside. The other half was nestled between his teeth. It bobbed up and down like a cigarette in a cartoon. Aleks sighed.

“How many did he make this time?”

Dan’s eyebrow raised. Aleks nodded to the birdhouse mounted on the wall. He’d explained to his dad several times that there was no point in it being there but Jordan had insisted it looked nice. Dan shook his head.

“No birdhouses, only furniture. Did you not notice your new bedside table?”

Aleks chewed his lower lip and gently shook his head. His room felt like a train station to him now, it had become simply something that he passed through. Aleks grabbed the hot chocolate. He took a big, deep gulp. The whipped cream frothed on his nose. Dan smiled.

“Better than a black coffee?”

“It’s different,” Aleks admitted.

“But not bad?”

Aleks licked at the cream on his nose. His tongue kept poking at one bit on the very tip. He paused.

“It’s too much at once,” Aleks pushed the mug back toward Dan. His tongue poked at the froth once more. With a defeated huff, he wiped it away with the back of his hand. Dan took the mug and poured the hot chocolate down the sink. He rinsed it out and gave it a quick scrub. 

 

When he returned to the table and sat across from Aleks, Dan offered him a mug of black coffee instead. Aleks smiled. He blew on the coffee and took a sip. Aleks’ face scrunched up.

“Do you want any sugar?” Dan pointed to the cup with a spoon. Jordan insisted everything was in a little pot, the ones bought from the shops mothers flocked to when they had spare cash. Dan had never knew he needed a butter tray until now. Aleks shook his head. Dan offered him the spoon again. “But it is better when it’s a little sweeter, isn’t it?”

Aleks rolled his eyes. He pushed the mug toward Dan and let him chuck some sugar into it. When he sipped at the coffee this time, Aleks’ face remained neutral.

“It can be a bit bitter, yeah, but that’s just how coffee is.”

“True but coffee can be sweet if you just work on finding the perfect blend,” Dan pointed at him with the spoon.

Aleks looked away from Dan. He chewed upon his lower lip and shrugged.

 

~

 

Aleks slumped on the couch. His thumbs lazily skimmed over the controller. He scoffed as he shot Dan’s character yet again. Dan squeaked as he went down and the noise quickly trickled into a laugh. Aleks rolled his eyes. He collected more ammo and pushed his character into a sprint. Dan’s character popped out in front of him and shot. Aleks stopped moving. His character took barely any damage. With one flick of the trigger, Dan’s character was dead. Dan howled with laughter then.

“How are you this bad?” Aleks groaned.

Dan shrugged. He wiped the tears from his eyes and dropped his controller onto his lap. The screen revealed their points. Dan had scored an impressive zero. Aleks tossed his own controller onto the floor.

“You don’t want to play another game then?”

Aleks shook his head. Out of the five games they had played already, Dan had won none of them. On the third he’d managed to kill Aleks. Once. Only once. While murdering his character had been therapeutic at first, especially since he had logged in on James’ profile, Aleks was quite over the appeal of slaughtering a pixel.

 

Dan turned the console off. He shifted on the couch so that he could look at Aleks. Aleks looked anywhere but Dan. Dan cleared his throat. Aleks let his head roll to face him.

“Do you want to go out somewhere for dinner?” Dan cocked his head to the side. Aleks shook his own head so violently his long fringe became a blur. “It will blow over, Aleks.”

“You’re defending him,” Aleks snapped.

“No, what James did was wrong,” Dan took a deep breath. “But he wanted to help your father.”

“Why? He’s not his dad.”

Dan sighed. Aleks shrugged him off. He reached into his jeans’ pocket and pulled out his phone. Dan watched as he opened the just eat app.

 

Dan glanced around the room. His eyes strayed to the DVD cabinet. Jordan had organised them all alphabetically and by genre. There were quite a few Batman films, courtesy of Dan himself, a couple of romance films, quite a few marvel films and tucked right into the very corner of the case only one horror film. Dan’s lip twitched at the sight of it. He got up and passed in front of Aleks to go to the case. He slid the DVD out, opening it to see if it actually had the disk inside. He smiled. Aleks didn’t bother to look up as Dan sat back down next to him. He offered him the phone. Dan took it but, before Aleks could snatch his hand back, he replaced it with the DVD. Aleks’ eyebrow rose. He glanced to the new object and smirked a little.

“Dad said I wasn’t allowed to watch this until I was eighteen, remember?”

“Yeah but he’s not here right now, is he?”

Aleks looked up. Dan was giving him that same look he had a year ago. He had raised one eyebrow and the right side of his lip was pulled up slightly. It was an olive branch, an attempt to connect and to understand Aleks. Aleks rolled his eyes. He threw the DVD case onto Dan’s lap. Dan’s smile faltered a little until Aleks pointed to the TV.

“Go on then, put it on.”

 

Halfway through the movie, Aleks turned the TV off. Dan turned towards him. Aleks pulled his noodles from his mouth and dropped them onto his plate. His face was pale, paler than usual that is, and he swallowed several times to keep down bile.

“Not the kind of movie to watch over dinner then?” Dan asked.

Aleks looked up at Dan. Dan had to stifle a laugh when he saw that his eyes were watering too. Aleks shook his head slowly. He cast his plate aside and pulled his knees up onto his chest. Dan forked some more noodles into his mouth. Aleks looked away then, his lips curled up and bile still swimming around his throat. Dan snatched the remote and put on the TV for some background noise while he finished his dinner.

“I should record this, it’s James’ favourite show. He’d hate to miss it,” Dan murmured.

“Don’t bother, he should miss it.”

 

Aleks physically turned away from Dan then. Dan lowered the remote and sighed.

“What did he do?”

Aleks whipped around and glared at Dan. “He took pictures of my-“

“Before that,” Dan crossed his arms over his chest. “Why did you go so far out of your way to avoid him?”

Aleks’ shoulders slumped. He pulled his legs back up to his chest and chewed upon his lip. What didn’t James do? He treated everything like a joke – acted as if what they were going through was no big deal. He felt Dan’s eyes on him. He guessed now was just as appropriate as ever to mention it.

“Something happened at a party the weekend…”

“God I told him not to drink so much, what did he do?”

Aleks frowned at Dan. He turned toward him.

“What do you mean, you told him not to drink so much?”

“When Jordan suggested he go to that party and meet you before we moved in, I made him promise not to drink more than a beer or two. I told him, ‘go and find Aleks and get acquainted’ and when he came back with a big dopey smile I knew he’d got with someone. Was it one of your friends?”

Aleks’ hands crept into his hair. He tugged at his scalp and grit his teeth. Dan muttered to himself.

“He came to the party to look for me?” Aleks launched himself off of the couch. Dan nodded.

“Did he find you?”

 

Yes, Aleks wanted to scream. Yes he found him and he kissed him and they had a moment and then he showed up on the doorstep the next morning as his new brother. Then he wouldn’t stop reminding Aleks of that moment. He just kept grating and grating on him – joking and being nice and caring and – Aleks screamed. Out loud. So loud Dan had to cover his ears. He slowly lowered his hands and stared at Aleks. His look was unreadable. Aleks shook his head.

“No, no he didn’t find me.”

Dan wanted to ask him more but Aleks turned away from him. The boy shook. Dan had asked James a similar question when he’d stumbled home that night but he’d just mumbled an answer and Dan had let it be. Now he was wondering whether he should have pushed him further.

“So what did he do?”

 

Aleks turned back to Dan. He couldn’t tell him the truth now, couldn’t say that he was so angry because James had kissed him and then became his step brother.

“He just – after you two moved in, he clung to me like a koala. It was suffocating. He wouldn’t leave me alone and he kept winding me up and he didn’t respect my space and… and… he was just always there.” Aleks started to pace.

“I’m sorry he came on so strong it’s just… that’s James. He likes new people and he was just so happy that I’d found someone that he was probably trying extra hard to impress you.”

“Why would anyone be happy that their parent found someone new?”

Aleks had never known anyone but Jordan but he was sure if he had, he’d have hated Dan more for barging in and ruining it all. He was sure that James had to have a mother.

 

Dan rubbed at his scalp. He swallowed. He opened his mouth to say something and then he closed it again. Aleks raised his eyebrow.

“I haven’t dated anyone since… since his mother and that was five years ago. There was a time when I wouldn’t even talk to my friends, let alone go on a date. It was easy for me to move away, to move here with your dad because there’s no-one left. Not after I pushed them away,” Dan admitted.

Aleks sat down on the couch beside Dan. He wasn’t sure what to do after that – he’d never been on this end of the interaction before. So he just leaned against Dan and rest his cheek on his shoulder. Dan went on:

“He just wanted it to work, I guess. He tried so hard to keep me afloat back then and I wouldn’t wish it on him again. If I ever lost your dad… I don’t think I could help myself.”

Aleks wrapped his arm around Dan’s. He sighed against him. He felt Dan shift as he wiped his eyes. Dan laughed at himself. Aleks smiled with him. Dan pressed his head against Aleks’. He pat the teenager on the leg.

“Right, enough of this,” Dan said. “Let’s have a fun James-free weekend.”

 

Aleks huffed as he threw down his last card. It was the fourth time he’d won Uno in the past fifteen minutes – Dan really was not a challenge at all. Dan started to reshuffle the pack but Aleks placed a hand over his to stop him. He slumped against the couch and kicked Dan’s legs underneath the coffee table. They’d opted to sit on the floor to not strain their backs. Aleks had started to think that that might be more fun. They had already exhausted every other board game in their library. Aleks never thought he’d hear himself say it but, before he could stop himself, he turned to Dan and said:

“God, I can’t wait until Dad and James get home.”


	9. A win for everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and James come home but what will be waiting for them there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comin' out of my cage and I've been doing just fine, gotta gotta be down because I want it all!
> 
> Oh pals, it's been a while hasn't it? For those that care for where I've been, what's been going on and like... my life - see the notes at the bottom.

Jordan and James walked through the front door at around two in the afternoon on Sunday.

“You took your damn time. Please come save me.”

Aleks almost jumped on the pair. His eyes were watery, as if he’d been crying, and in one hand he held a wii controller. Jordan and James looked at one another. Aleks grabbed his father’s wrist and tugged him into the living room. Dan was stood in the middle of the room. He ran furiously in one spot with his arms matching his feet. Aleks collapsed on the couch behind him. He half-heartedly shook his own wii remote in order to get his character to move. Dan relaxed as his own character passed the finish line. He doubled over and breathed heavily.

“I won! I won!”

Dan thrust his hands high up into the air. He went to clap but only served to smack the remote against his hand.

 

Jordan shook his head at his boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around Dan’s neck and smiled when Dan returned the embrace. Jordan breathed into Dan’s neck and simply squeezed. He smelt of coffee, take-away and sweat. He ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s scalp and truly felt his presence. Jordan pulled away only so that he could see Dan’s face. Dan smiled up at him, just as happy to see his boyfriend as Jordan was. Dan broke their embrace but caught Jordan’s hand in his own so that he did not complain. It took Jordan a second to tear his eyes away from Dan’s but he did to check on his son and James. The two boys stood across from them with matching frowns. Aleks went far enough to fake gag. He turned away from the two men and stuck his finger slightly into his mouth. James smirked beside him.

 

Dan turned to Jordan and smiled himself.

“Did you see that I won?”

Aleks quickly recovered from his feigned illness. He raised his right eyebrow and pointed to the screen behind Dan and Jordan. They both turned and Jordan smirked at the results.

“Is that what they call fourth place now?”

Dan broke his hand away from Jordan’s. He hit his arm and huffed.

“But I won the running one, Aleks came fourth in that one.”

“Because I answered the door!”

Dan shrugged. He’d still won, Aleks couldn’t take that away from him.

“Nobody can beat me at Mario and Sonic Olympics – not with Shadow on my side.”

“Of course you’d pick Shadow,” James nudged Aleks’ arm. He gasped as he realised what he’d done. James took a step away from Aleks and stared down at the ground.

“Well duh, he’s the best character.”

 

James looked up. Aleks offered him a small, awkward smile. James let out a deep breath.

“Well, why don’t we all play? It can be the family game night we never got to have.”

Dan clapped his hands together in a way eerily similar to Jordan. He looked expectantly at Aleks.

“Sure, but I stand by my statement – no one can beat me.”

“Oh, you’re so on. Mario can beat Shadow any day!” James folded his arms over his chest and arched his right eyebrow. Aleks scoffed.

“If we’re playing the wii can we play my favourite game first?”

“No, dad – we’re going to play an actual game.”

 

Aleks slammed his head against the cushion of the couch. The cheerful music did nothing to lift his mood. He glared at his father as Jordan waved the wii remote at the TV.

“Don’t be like that, Aleks. We can make each other!”

Jordan selected the ‘create new mii’ option. He turned and grinned at his son. Aleks felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. He blinked and saw that his father’s smile had faltered slightly. Aleks took a deep breath and forced a smile on his own face.

“I’ll make James’ then.”

“You’ll make me ugly Aleksandr.”

“Duh, it’s supposed to be accurate.”

A pillow thumped against his face. Aleks’ shriek was muffled in the fabric.

 

Jordan looked to Dan. Dan chewed on the bottom of his lower lip. They both held their breath. Aleks batted the pillow away from his face. He grinned from ear to ear.

“Oh, you’re definitely getting wrinkles now.”

“Aleksandr! I’m going to give you the biggest nose ever.”

Aleks and James laughed at each other. Jordan’s eyes watered a little. The wii remote shook in his hand. Dan grabbed his wrist to steady it. He caught Jordan’s eye and then nodded to the screen.

“I hope you don't give me wrinkles.”

Jordan shook his head.

“Of course not, it has to be accurate,” he winked.

 

Dan clapped as Jordan finished up his mii. It was near perfect, though he would have argued he should have been at least slightly taller. He took the remote from Jordan’s hand before he could accept the mii and ensured it was selected as a favourite. They all laughed as Dan’s mii dropped into the world. He selected the new mii option and created Jordan. It was the perfect pixel copy from his tall, lanky body to the red hat upon his head. Dan favourited this mii as well and beamed when he dropped right next to Dan’s own. He offered the wii remote to the two teenage boys beside him.

“Me first!” They said together. Aleks reached out for the remote. James elbowed him out of the way and snatched it from his father. He kept his elbow bent and held it up to beat off Aleks as he started the process of creating Aleks’ mii.

 

 He sighed heavily as he saw the options for skin colour.

“None of these are anywhere near pale enough, you're going to have to go out in the sun to make sure your mii as accurate as possible.”

“Just shut up and make me already.”

James smirked. He selected the palest skin colour and gave Aleks the thinnest face shape he could pick. He mulled over the extra facial details before he ultimately decided Aleks did not need them. In the hairstyle section, he selected the colour black. James clicked through every available option until he found the one he considered most emo.

“That's a girl’s hair!”

“You are a girl, Aleksandra.”

 

Aleks whacked him on the shoulder. James snorted. He chose the eyes that were heavily lined with black, of course, and rotated Aleks’ eyebrows so he looked extremely angry. True to his word, James picked a nose for Aleks and made it get bigger and bigger and bigger until the wii wouldn't let him expand it any further. In the little space underneath it, he placed a tiny straight mouth. With every addition James turned to Aleks, his eyes bright and his grin wide, for his approval. Aleks scoffed and tried to scowl every time. But he could never hold it. His scoff trickled into a giggle and his scowl twitched at the edges. James didn't mess with the height or the weight of the mii and jumped straight to the name instead. Aleks rolled his eyes.

“It’s a K S, dumbass.”

“That's your problem, Aleksandra?”

“I’ll get my revenge.”

 

James slapped his hands against his face. He peeked through his fingers as Aleks created a monstrosity before him. It was like the pixelated old man version of James – balding, grey hair and tiny eyes with wrinkles underneath them that screamed for help. James reached for the controller but Aleks knocked him out of the way. He laughed to himself as he made James’ character as small as he could be. James gasped when Aleks made him fatter as well.

“That’s definitely not how you spell that.”

“Oh, that's your problem Jemima?”

“I think you mean Jamina.”

Aleks shrugged. He saved the mii and clicked out. He pressed the whistle and watched as they all lined up together. He looked to Jordan. Jordan had his hands clasped over his mouth. Dan held up his phone to take a quick photo of it all. Aleks shook his head.

“Now can we play actual games?”

 

Aleks furiously shook the wii remote and the nunchuck up and down. His teeth ripped his lower lip apart. He could barely breathe. He glanced sideways at James. James was resting against the back of the couch. His arms were moving side to side with ease. He caught Aleks’ gaze out of the corner of his eye and winked. His character got to the end of the pool and he relaxed even further. Jordan finished a second later with a huff of breath. Dan and Aleks’ characters were still off screen. Shadow’s head peeped through from the left side and crashed into the wall. Aleks collapsed as they all waited for Dan to finish.

 

“What was that about you always winning, Aleksandra?”

“Shadow just isn’t good in the swimming events.”

“Don’t blame it on the character, we all have our bad days.” James pat Aleks’ back and rubbed at his shoulder.

“I’ll get you in the next event.”

“Boys, it’s just a game. It doesn’t matter who wins or not,” Jordan glanced at the two teenagers.

“You’re only saying that because you haven’t won once, Dad.”

“I’m sorry, Aleks. Didn’t I just beat you?” Jordan rose his eyebrow. Aleks’ mouth fell open. James clapped his hand over his own mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Shadow isn’t good in the swimming events!”

 

It turned out that Shadow wasn’t much better at gymnastics, table tennis or the hammer throw.

“Aleks, you were supposed to be wearing the strap!”

Dan cringed as Aleks’ remote went flying through the air. It made a ‘dunk’ sound as it caught the corner of the TV. Dan held his breath. Jordan covered his eyes. James pressed the record button on his phone. The TV swayed for a second. The controller span in the air and fell to the ground. The TV stilled. Dan let out his breath. Jordan peeked through his fingers. James stopped recording.

“Well that was a let-down.”

“Aleksandr, put that strap on right this second.”

“I quit, you’re all cheating. This game fucking sucks.”

 

Aleks threw his hands up in the air. His feet thumped against the stairs as he ascended to his room. Jordan clicked his tongue. Dan shook his head. James laughed as he pointed to the screen,

“Well, would you look at that – it’s his best score yet!”

Shadow’s face appeared at the top of the leader board. The game announced that Aleks had broken a world record.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm an adult(tm) now with a full time 8.30am-5pm job, living in a house that I don't share with my parents, just passed the year mark on a relationship and like... yeah, I'm a full grown human.
> 
> I found this story by accident in my google drive while at work and reading just one sentence made me grin so hard that I had to come back to it. I don't know if I'll finish it because I work as a reporter now and spend my whole day writing and all weekend being social (a surprise). The cancellation of RTXLondon made me realise that I've fallen out of love with RT, AH and their associates for a while now BUT all that said - I love these characters, I love this story and I've been itching to write about anything but ports... so enjoy!
> 
> TL;DR: I'm an adult, no longer apart of the fandom but have a sudden burst of inspiration.


	10. How it should have been

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aleks and James make an effort to get along, if only for their parents' sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time next week it'll be my second day in Disneyland and I'll be vibrating so hard I'll die. hype.

James walked down the stairs the next morning to find that Aleks’ keys were gone. He looked up at Jordan and Dan. Dan played with the spoon dipped into his cereal. Jordan coughed and turned his back to James. He shoved his hands into the steaming water in the sink. Plates scraped against each other as Jordan furiously washed the dishes. James sighed. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and headed out the door. He put the apple in his mouth and slung his bag off of his shoulder. He unzipped it so he could find the bus schedule. James’ bag closed itself as he walked into something. He looked up.

Aleks frowned at him from the driver side of his car. He used his head to gesture to the passenger side. James walked around the car. His eyes never left Aleks. He pulled the door open and threw his bag onto the floor. James pulled the apple from his mouth.  
“I thought you’d fucked off already,” James chewed.  
“What made you think that?”  
“Your keys were gone.”  
“You were late.”  
“What’s wrong with staying inside?”  
“Your dad kept telling me it’s okay to lose and nobody wins at everything.”  
“Well Aleks you know. It is okay to lose and nobody wins at everything… unless you’re me.”  
Aleks floored it.

The second Aleks swerved into the school parking lot, James leapt out. He fell to the ground and threw his hands up to the air.  
“Oh thank god, I survived. We made it. I live another day!”  
James turned back to Aleks. Aleks wasn’t looking at him. His hands were still tightly curled around the steering wheel. James saw his eyes dart side to side. Aleks breathed slowly. James got up. He looked around. A couple of people watched them. He saw a cheerleader whisper something to her friend. James sighed. He closed his door and walked around the car to Aleks. He opened his door for him and offered Aleks his hand. Aleks glanced at it. He shook his head.  
“Come on, it will be fine.” James grabbed Aleks’ wrist and tugged it. Aleks’ knuckles went white around the steering wheel. James eased his fingers between Aleks’ clammy palm and the wheel. He tugged again. Aleks’ hand broke away from the wheel. James led Aleks out of his car and shut the door for him. James dropped his hand.

Their arms touched as they walked. James’ fingers brushed against the back of Aleks’ every few steps. Aleks kept his nose to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed when somebody knocked into his shoulder.  
“Hey emo, how’s your teddy bear? Did you cuddle it when you got home last week?”  
Aleks looked up. He recognised the letterman jacket. The same jock from the week before pouted down at Aleks. Aleks took a deep breath.  
“Fuck off yeah? That’s old news.”  
Aleks glanced to his right. James crowded into the jock’s space.  
“What’s your problem? You sent the pictures.”  
“I said fuck off.”  
The jock scoffed. He squared James up, pulled his shoulders back and lifted his chin.

He shrunk back as James mirrored his position. James raised his eyebrow. Someone tapped on the jock’s shoulder. He turned as his friend mouthed something at him. Aleks braced himself for a fight. The other boy took a step away from James. He held his hands up.  
“All right, I’ll back off.”  
“Good. I don’t want to hear another word about it either.”  
The other boy walked away. He knocked shoulders with his friends and laughed. James turned to Aleks. He grinned.  
“I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”  
Aleks rolled his eyes.

“That was awesome!”  
James flinched when Eddie’s arm wrapped around his shoulder. His other arm pulled Aleks close and he squeezed both boys. Seamus fell into step beside Aleks. He offered his friend a small, reassuring smile but Aleks was too preoccupied. He wriggled out of Eddie’s grasp and shook his shoulders as though a spider had landed upon them. James bumped his head against Eddie’s.  
“I can be nice when I want to be.”  
“Mhm, we’ll see. This is your first warning. Aleks’ fragile emo heart can’t take any more,” Seamus used two fingers to point at his eyes and then he turned them around to point them at James. James lifted his arms in surrender. Seamus smiled at him.

For the rest of the day, James hovered around Aleks. He sat next to him when they shared class, walked him to class if they didn’t and gave anyone that dared to snicker a look that made them choke on their happiness. Aleks tried his hardest to pretend like James wasn’t there. He put his arm between them when James tried to copy his answers, practically ran between each class and kept his head down for most of the day so he wouldn’t see anybody make fun of him. At lunch he slumped onto the bench and clapped his tray onto the table. Seamus scowled at him as his sweetcorn bounced. Eddie tried to catch one between his fingers.  
“Anyone else feel like they have a shadow today?”  
“Most people have shadows everyday Aleks, unless you’re Peter Pan? Are you Peter Pan?” Eddie leaned over the table. Aleks glared at him.  
“No, he’s Peter Pain,” James swung his arm around Aleks’ shoulders. “I’m catching up on your company, Aleksandr.”

Aleks whipped his head to his left. His breath caught in his throat when he realised just how close James was. Aleks shrugged James off. He moved his tray further to the right and shuffled with it.  
“I’m not going anywhere, give me some damn space.”  
“You’re not? You’re coming home?”  
“Where else would I go?” Aleks ignored Seamus and Eddie’s twin looks.  
“I’ll text dad and tell him to whip out the streamers, blow up the balloons – how do you spell your name again? Got to make sure the banner is correct.”

Aleks dug his elbow into James’ ribs. James squawked. His arms flailed as he fell backwards. Aleks laughed at him. James cursed as he started to actually lose his balance. He closed his eyes and waited for the smack of the floor against the back of his head. His arm was grabbed and he was hoisted upwards. James opened his eyes. Aleks let go of his arm and picked at his food.  
“Aleksandr? You saved me? Peter Pain truly does have a heart!” James wrapped his arms around Aleks’ shoulder. Aleks pulled his lips taut.  
“That’s the tin man you idiot.”  
Both boys blinked as a flash blinded them. Eddie brought his phone to Seamus’ face and pointed at the screen. He cooed at the photo he took. Seamus took it from him.  
“Cute but there’s no way it’s replacing me as your lock screen,” Seamus slipped it into his pocket.

At the end of the day, James walked Aleks back to his car. He slipped into his seat before Aleks could even open his door. Aleks rolled his eyes when James threw his feet up onto the dashboard. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. He saw James whip his phone out and text.  
“I swear if there’s actually balloons when we go home I’m going straight to Eddie’s.”  
James looked up. He grinned from ear to ear and held up his phone.  
“Nah, there’s not even going to be parents. We’ve got the whole house to ourselves.”  
“What? Where’d they go?”  
“Oh, just the supermarket. So no house parties – they’ll be back within the hour.”  
“Good – gives me enough time to kick your ass in the Olympics.”

Dan laughed at Jordan as he hoisted the groceries out of the trunk of the car.  
“I can take some you know,” He offered his hand to his boyfriend. Jordan walked right past it. His cheek pressed up against the paper bag.  
“No, I got it. I just need you to-“ Jordan’s left foot jumped side to side in front of him. He tried to peek over the bags but only got an eyeful of hot chocolate. “When did you pick that up?”  
“When you were trying to find the perfect smiley face cookie cutter.”  
“They all look like they were trying too hard or just plain angry.”  
Dan shook his head. He grabbed Jordan by the elbow and guided him up their path. The smiley faced cookie cutter Jordan had finally decided upon leered at Dan from the bag. Dan poked it down. He held Jordan firmly in place when they got to the door. He pulled the keys from Jordan’s back pocket and ignored the way his boyfriend wriggled away. He pinched his ass just for good measure.

The door opened and Jordan almost fell backwards from the noise alone. He swayed slightly so that he could see Dan. Dan grit his teeth.  
“Aleksandr, you little shit! That is not fucking fair at all!”  
Jordan rushed past Dan. He ran to the kitchen on muscle memory alone and chucked the groceries onto the countertop. The hot chocolate rolled out from its bag and off onto the floor but Jordan darted out before he could catch it. He stumbled into Dan’s back into his mad run to the living room. Aleks clung to James’ side and his arm grabbed at James’ hand. James jerked his shoulders to shake him off. He was smiling. Jordan and Dan looked to the TV where Yoshi had just finished his trampoline routine. James groaned when he saw his score.  
“Told you I’d beat you.”  
“You’re a fucking cheat.”

James wrapped his arm around Aleks and ruffled his hair. He spun them around but stopped when he saw that they had an audience. He smirked at Jordan and Dan’s twin ‘o’ looks.  
“Get anything good at the grocery store?”  
“Yeah… I bought some more hot chocolate.”  
“Oh, shoot.” Jordan turned on his heel and ran back to the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> So I dragged Bex down The Creatures hole on a wave of nostalgia and now nine chapters down (and counting) this fan fiction has come alive.
> 
> Also I love it and you can pry highschool!NovaHD from my cold, dead hands.


End file.
